Stairs
by HR always live on
Summary: A short fiction about Ruth and Harry. Can they finally get together while a bomb is planted in central London?
1. Chapter 1

Ruth was hurriedly trying to get dressed while her phone was ringing annoyingly behind her.

"Yes?" she said breathlessly answering it.

"Are you okay Ruth?" Harry asked hearing that she was flustered.

"Yes I'm fine," she said, trying to ignore the way her heart rate increased when she knew who was calling her. "What's wrong Harry?"

"Nothing really," Harry said. "I was just wondering how on earth everyone got on the grid before you." Ruth glanced at her watch and saw that it was already ten past nine. Her stupid alarm clock hadn't bothered to go off this morning and she had only been awake for five minutes.

"I'm sorry," Ruth said. "I overslept. My alarm clock decided to spontaneously break so I've only just woken up. I'll get into work as soon as I can."

"Take your time," Harry said easily. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"Yeah," she replied, trying to make her heart stop flipping over at his concern. "I'll see you soon."

"Bye Ruth," Harry said putting the phone down. Ruth glanced around, knowing she had to hurry. She hated being late at the best of times. She took a final look in her mirror and decided she was presentable. She grabbed her bag and then raced down the stairs. She failed to notice her cat lying on one of the top steps. Ruth tried to slow down but Fidget suddenly moved, causing Ruth to trip over her own feet. Before she knew what had happened she had tumbled to the bottom of the stairs.

Ruth collected herself after a minute. Nothing seemed to be broken, she summarised as she stretched carefully. She had hit her head quite hard and she knew that she was going to have a black eye develop later in the day. She had also taken off the top layer of skin on her right arm. That was going to be sore too. She stood up and saw Fidget looking very sheepish on the stairs. He meowed quietly as if looking for forgiveness.

"Its okay," Ruth said quietly, stroking him between the ears, like he liked. "I should watch where I'm going. I'll see you later." Ruth straightened herself out and locked the door behind her as she left.

She emerged on the grid half an hour later, feeling well and truly bruised and a little stupid. Ruth moved behind her desk and began reading through today's files. Nothing too terrible seemed on the cards so far. Harry came out of his office and looked at the whole team.

"Meeting room," he said briefly. There was a quick shuffling of papers as everyone followed Harry into the room. Ruth sat right next to Harry as was her habit and everyone else slowly came in.

"We have a warning of a bomb attack in central London," Harry said briefly.

"Time frame?" Ruth asked.

"Within the next five hours," Harry replied. "The group that say this attack is happening are calling themselves the Freedom from Oppression Movement. Ruth, can you find out how serious these people are and if they really have the power to detonate a bomb in London."

"Sure," Ruth replied scribbling on her notepad. Harry's eyes saw that her arm had a massive red mark running from her wrist to her elbow as she wrote. He drew his eyes away from her and carried on addressing the other members of the team.

"Beth and Dimitri, you try and scout out possible bomb locations. Put airports and train stations on high alert and anything that looks suspicious in the last twenty four hours, investigate until you can prove it has nothing to do with our bombers." Harry then turned to their resident boy wonder.

"Tariq, you run traces on phone call warning that we received," Harry said briefly. "However I strongly suspect it came from a public phone box so also check CCTV at all phone boxes in London at five minutes past nine this morning. We need to know who made the warning call and why."

Everyone got up to leave but Harry threw Ruth a look which said "stay there" louder than words ever could. As Beth shut the door behind her Ruth looked at Harry.

"Is there a problem?"

"What happened to your arm?" Harry said quickly. Ruth cast her eyes down and could see that the red marks were vividly clear.

"Oh, nothing," Ruth said quickly. "I'm fine."

"It doesn't look like nothing, Ruth," Harry said quietly. He slowly held her wrist, looking at the marks on her arm closer. "What happened?" She looked into his eyes and she knew that she wasn't going to be let off the hook.

"I was rushing, trying to get into work," Ruth started. "I tripped over my cat and I fell down the stairs."

"Oh Ruth," he said quietly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes I'm fine," she replied quickly. "Really. Shall we stop worrying about my self inflicted injuries and focus on stopping the devastation from an unknown bomb?"

"Yes," Harry said. He let go of her wrist reluctantly. Ruth let her arm swing by her side and she left Harry alone to begin her research. He watched her leave the room and sighed wistfully.

Dimitri and Beth were approaching Waterstones on Piccadilly. They had discovered that the bomb threat was genuine and it was in that shop. They were racing against the clock as usual to find it and disarm it. They had evacuated the shop and had found the bomb.

"Come on Dimitri," Beth said. "This is meant to be what you're good at."

"Give me a minute," he said annoyed.

"I'll give you forty three seconds," Beth said reading off of the timer.

"If you can't disarm it, just leave it," Harry said over their wires. "You won't have enough time. You're already cutting it fine. Get out of there."

"Go on," Dimitri said to Beth. She looked at him and left the shop. Dimitri examined it for a precious few more seconds and then cut the wires. He breathed a sigh of relief as the timer stopped whirring down. Back on the grid they all stopped and were relieved when Dimitri's voice came back on the radio. Ruth relaxed. Thank God for that. Just a normal day at work, she thought bitterly.

Harry watched her carefully. As soon as the bomb was safe Tariq had left the grid to get some coffee. He said a caffeine jolt was just what he needed after avoiding national disaster. This left Ruth and Harry alone on the grid. Now that the threat of the bomb had passed they started feeling uncomfortable in each others presence.

Ruth touched her eye gently. She was willing to bet good money that it had come out in a horrible purple bruise by now. She turned and looked at Harry who was much closer than she expected.

"Oh Ruth," he said quietly. "Your face."

"Yeah, I know," she said looking at the floor. "Trust me I'll never fall down the stairs again, I feel like hell." They looked at each other for a long moment. Then the pods buzzed and Tariq came back. He was closely followed by Beth.

"My office," he said quietly to Ruth. She smiled briefly and followed him, closing the door.

"Do you think you should go to the doctor," Harry asked, his voice full of concern.

"Its just bumps and bruises Harry," Ruth said honestly. "Anyway, what would you have done today without me?" she asked only half joking.

"I don't know Ruth," he said seriously. Ruth suddenly felt very uncomfortable, trapped in a room with Harry. It was too close. Harry suddenly moved and unlocked one of his desk draws. He took something out and placed it on the desk. Ruth looked at the small object confused.

"I always imagined you wearing it Ruth," Harry said quietly. Ruth suddenly realised what must be in the box. An engagement ring.

"Harry…" Ruth started but he interrupted.

"I love you," he said simply. "Promise me you'll think about it." Ruth found herself unable to speak so she just nodded instead. The tiny little box seemed to be magnifying in size but she couldn't bring herself to reach out and touch it. She nodded again and hurried out of his office. She couldn't sit still so she left the grid, heading to the outside streets of London, breathing heavily.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything she wanted was within reach. If she'd only say yes. Why was she so afraid? She knew how he felt about her. The way he looked at her and the things he had just said made that perfectly clear. Why could she never confront her fears? She closed her eyes and concentrated on breathing in and out slowly. It was a lot more difficult than it should have been.

Harry sat behind his desk and felt incredibly stupid. She'd already said no once. Why on earth would he think that she would give a different answer now? What had possessed him? He glanced at his watch and thought that it was a perfectly acceptable time of day for a whisky. A large whisky. He spent a long moment looking at the small box which held the engagement ring. He felt like such an idiot. He put the box in his pocket and waited.

Hours later Harry still sat in his office. He had been waiting for Ruth to come back but she never had. The grid was now totally empty. Harry sighed and decided she wasn't going to come back at all. Not today, maybe not ever. He looked around the grid for a final time and left, going down to the car he knew would be waiting for him.

Ruth had been sitting in a café drinking tea. She had needed time to think everything through and that would be impossible to do anywhere near the grid. Or Harry. After a long afternoon of thought she realised it was too late to go back to work. She needed to see Harry so before she could back out, she took a taxi to his house. She rung the door bell but there was no answer. She guessed he wasn't home yet so she sat on the doorstep. She was actually glad of the extra time so she could think of what she would say when Harry got there.

Harry felt awful as he was driven home. He had well and truly blown it with Ruth. Again. Harry could feel the car slowing down and he wasn't exactly looking forward to another evening alone. He got out of the car and was amazed and annoyed when he saw someone sitting outside his house. He was not in the mood to be interrupted tonight. His irritation vanished when the figure stood up and he recognised her.

"Ruth," he said quietly. He couldn't think of a single thing to say to her.

"Can I come in?" Ruth asked after he hadn't moved or said anything for two minutes.

"Yeah," Harry said quietly. He unlocked the door and Ruth followed him into the kitchen where Harry poured another whiskey for himself. He felt he was going to need it. Ruth looked very uncomfortable.

"Why are you here?" Harry asked after a moment. The light showed her face in sharp relief. It was completely white except for the purple bruise on her eye. He would have given anything to hold her when she looked that fragile.

"I've been thinking," Ruth started. "I meant to come back and finish our conversation but I lost track of time. So I ended up here." She paused, fiddling with a strand of hair while she tried to word what was on her mind. Harry watched her carefully as her blue eyes darted around the room. They finally settled on him.

"I wanted to tell you, that I don't make the same mistake twice," she said simply. Harry stared at her. Did she mean what he hoped she meant?

"Ruth…?" Harry said quietly. She smiled a tiny smile that made his heart skip a beat.

"At Ros's funeral," Ruth said quietly. "What I said to you… That was the biggest mistake of my life." She was not used to discussing her feelings like this and she couldn't control the blush that stained her cheeks. Harry couldn't tear his eyes away from her. He was convinced he was dreaming. He got the box out of his pocket as he walked closer to her.

"Marry me," he said quietly, opening the box for her. Ruth found herself smiling as she looked at the beautiful diamond ring.

"Yes," she said simply. Harry smiled, he couldn't help it. Those three letters made him happier than he had been in a long time. Maybe ever. He took the ring out of its box and slipped it onto Ruth's finger. His hand lingered on her fingers once it was there. He didn't want to let her go.

"Harry," Ruth started quietly. He looked up from her newly decorated hand and looked into her startlingly blue eyes. He couldn't believe this was happening. He leant closer to her and gently kissed her on the lips. He could tell that she was smiling.

"Ruth?"

"Mm?" she replied sleepily.

"Are you happy?"

"I'd be even happier if I could sleep in peace," Ruth replied with her eyes still shut. Ruth laughed quietly as Harry started to kiss her neck gently. She didn't think she had ever been happier in her life.

"You haven't changed your mind yet?" Harry asked as she opened her eyes. He was only half joking. Ruth kissed him in a gentle and slow morning kiss.

"No," she said. "Although I bet I look like hell," Ruth said. "Covered in bruises because I can't even walk down a flight of stairs properly."

"You've never been more beautiful," Harry whispered.

"Oh I doubt that's true," Ruth said trying to keep the tone light.

"Don't argue with me," Harry said firmly.

"Isn't that what we do best?" Ruth said smiling. Harry grinned too. He reached for her hand with her engagement ring on. He started to take it off her finger.

"No," Ruth said making a fist with her hand. "What are you doing? You can't have it back!" Harry smiled at her reaction.

"I just wanted to show you something," Harry said as she slowly unclenched her fist. He took the ring off and showed her the inside.

"You had it engraved," Ruth said surprised. It read in a small flowing script "Harry and Ruth. Always." It was a simple message but the fact that he had gone to this trouble, just for her, touched her heart.

"Thank you," Ruth whispered slipping the ring back on her finger, where it belonged. She looked into Harry's brown eyes for a long minute. She didn't want to look away.

"I love you," she said quietly. Harry didn't reply, he just put an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. He needed to have her in his arms. And for once, it really was that simple.


	3. Chapter 3

_Eight months later._

"No," Ruth said firmly. She was lying in bed and totally refused to move.

"Come on, Ruth," Harry said as he was doing up his tie. "What am I possibly going to do on the grid without you?"

"Well that's too bad," Ruth said sharply. "I'm sure you'll manage. You managed without me before didn't you?"

"Not well," Harry said honestly. "And I don't like to remember the two years that I had to live without you."

"Guilting me into it won't work either," Ruth said, trying to forget about her exile.

"Hard woman," Harry grumbled.

"In my defence, you knew what I was like before you married me," Ruth said smiling.

"Well that's true," Harry said raising his eyebrows making Ruth laugh. Harry leant over her and kissed her for a long minute. Then he protectively put his hand over her swollen stomach. As he did so he felt the baby kicking lightly. Ruth smiled at him brightly as they enjoyed this private moment between the two of them. Between the three of them.

"The doctor told me to take it easy," Ruth reminded him. "You know I won't be doing that if I'm in Thames House."

"Yeah I know," Harry said. "Take care of her while I'm gone," he added quietly, kissing her again. Ruth smiled as she watched her husband leave their house. She put both her hands over her stomach and felt happier than she thought she had any right to be.


End file.
